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Bean murder trial continued, no new date set yet

Keith Trout
5:59 p.m. PDT June 5, 2014

Jeremiah Bean.(Photo: Mason Valley News)

After prior motions by defense counsel to continue the trial date were denied, a last-ditch motion did result in Third Judicial District Court Judge Bill Rogers calling off the June 4 trial for murder defendant Jeremiah Diaz Bean.

Bean's court-appointed legal counsel Richard P. Davies and Kenneth Ward had filed a motion seeking the June 5 trial to be continued to next spring, but when Bean opposed it, Rogers denied it and a subsequent reconsideration request, citing the right to a speedy trial. Then, the defense counsel filed a petition for writ of mandamus, including an emergency motion for stay, to the Nevada Supreme Court to delay the trial, but it was denied.

The attorneys sought the writ of mandamus seeking to continue the trial date so they could "prepare adequately for his defense." The motion said not granting a continuance would "result in [Davies and Ward] being unable to provide Mr. Bean with effective representation in violation of Mr. Bean's Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process and counsel."

However, two weeks ago the defense counsel filed a motion seeking an evaluation of mental retardation and the trial date of this week was postponed, with a hearing now scheduled for Aug. 21. An evaluation will be scheduled to determine if his mental capacity is high enough to make him eligible for the death penalty, which is being pursued by the Lyon County District Attorney's Office

Bean was charged with killing Robert and Dorothy Pape, both 84, on May 10, 2013, at their Jessica Lane home in Fernley and then killing newspaper deliveryman Eliazar Graham, 52, of Sparks, on May 13, 2013, in Mustang (being tried in Lyon County) and charged with killing Angie Duff, 67, and her friend Lester Leiber, 69, in a home on Tamsen Road, around the corner from the Papes.

Bean also was charged with stealing two pickups and other items from the residences, resulting in additional charges (including arson) beyond the 10 first degree murder counts.

A plea agreement reportedly had been reached last fall with Bean, with the death penalty to be removed, but he changed his mind and pleaded not guilty to 19 felony counts when he came before the judge for pleading. This resulted in a change of attorney to Davies to serve as the death-penalty qualified defense attorney.